"If you were unwell, why did you come to work? Stop overworking and stressing yourself just because Eric isn't here," he scolded her gently.

His concern touched her deeply. Initially, she had prepped herself to stay composed but her voice went hoa.r.s.e with unshed tears at this moment because of the compa.s.sion in his voice.

"Mr Ying, can you please give me work?" she pleaded.

Looking at her in confusion, he said, "but, you are already working."

She shook her head vigorously and said, "please give me a lot of work, so much that I have no time to eat, sleep, breathe on all seven days of the week. Can you please do me this favour without asking for a reason?"

Hui's breath hitched in his lungs. Even though he hadn't ever experienced it himself, he could decipher the anguish which was etched on her face. He had been uneasy the past few weeks looking at her. Now he know that the uneasiness had been his sixth sense warning him against the complications which lay ahead in his pursuit of love. Despite being a scientific man, with more faith in proof than conjecture, he went ahead with his instinct right now and held Jia Li's hand firmly.

"As long as you sign a doc.u.ment which absolves me from the repercussions of your overworked physical and mental state, I am happy to suffocate you with so much work that you would even forget your name," he told her in all seriousness.

Jia Li blinked at him owlishly for a second before the intent behind his words sank in. Giving him a tremulous but grateful smile, she nodded her head.

"I am ready to sign the undertaking," she said lightly.

"Good, its settled then. Go home, pack a bag which should contain your basic toiletries and clothes for a week. Ensure that the clothes are suited for a humid, hot weather. Report back in two hours," he said in precise, measured words.

She was befuddled.

"Am I going somewhere?" she asked him.

"No, we are going somewhere. Actually, I have been meaning to go to these caves in Sudan for the past six months now. But never had a slave to accompany me. Now that I have found a willing one, I don't want to waste even a single minute," he replied in mock seriousness.

"Sudan? We are going to Sudan? But… but what about the office? Eric isn't here either. Who would manage the work behind us," she started fretting.

"As far as I know, we are not inundated with too much work at present. And we are going to a place where phones, laptops work. In today's world, what can't be managed virtually?" he shot back in a calm voice, with his usual irrefutable logic.

Jia Li chewed her lip in worry before throwing back her shoulders.

"So what are we going to do in Sudan?" she asked finally.

Hui looked at her in excitement, "discovery of a new, cost effective, revolutionary way of extracting elements from Earth."

Jia Li stared at him. He looked like this kid who had found his favourite cookie unexpectedly.

"We shall be working from dawn to dusk and with minimal resources. So brace yourself for the long dusty hours," he warned her.

Jia Li nodded her head enthusiastically and told him that she was going back now to pack.

As soon as she left, Hui went into the panic mode. Gathering his managers for a huddle, he told them that he was needed urgently in Sudan on a matter of 'national importance'. As a result, he had no choice but to travel immediately. In his absence, he needed all the teams to work in cohesion and keep the s.h.i.+p floating.

The managers took in Hui's words at face value and promised him that they would handle the company while he went and contributed towards important international affairs.

After everyone left from his room, he took a minute to squash his guilt at deceiving his own employees so blatantly. But… this was the only way he could think of distracting her from her current sorrow. And matters involving HER were no less important to him than any 'national or international' issues.

He called up the travel desk and asked for the requisite tickets and bookings.

"Oh! I completely forgot. I need to let the Sudanese government know that I will be coming there," he shook his head at his poor planning.

Then, he shot a long message to Eric updating him about the same. Having second thoughts about the trip, he was actually worried that he may have gone a little too far in terms of coming up with a plan to make Jia Li feel better.

In the middle of the fitting of his wedding suit, Eric read and re-read his boss's message.